Senate OKs Medical Pot for Veterans

An amendment from Sens. Steve Daines, R-Mont., and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., that would allow veterans easier access to medical marijuana was attached in May to the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations bill, which passed the Senate on Tuesday.

On the eve of Veterans Day, the Senate passed legislation Tuesday that would for the first time allow Veterans Health Administration doctors to authorize medical marijuana use for patients.

The Veterans Health Administration currently does not allow its physicians to discuss marijuana as a treatment option with patients in the nearly two dozen states with medical pot laws, forcing veterans to turn elsewhere for guidance and the paperwork necessary to acquire the drug.